Bomber camp, Day 8

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers got a welcome bonus on Sunday (technically Saturday night) when head coach Paul LaPolice cancelled the morning session and simply put his team through the paces for roughly two hours.

After Saturday’s controlled scrimmage, LaPolice and company focused a lot on in-game situations, like second-and-short and being backed up near their end zone.

“It was a good teaching period for the guys,” said LaPolice.

Here are some of the nuggets we took out of Sunday’s session:

* There was only one interception thrown as safety Giovanni Aprile picked off Joey Elliott near the end of the workout.

* The Blue Bombers continue to shuffle guys around on the D-line as Andre Carroll got some work at DT with the first-team D. Non-import Ryan Lucas occupied that spot on Saturday.

* Paul Hubbard spent a lot of time at WR with the first-team offence and as of right now, looks like the guy with the best chance to replace Greg Carr in the starting lineup. However, he’s still facing a lot of competition from Chris Matthews, Doug Pierce, Kurt Adams, etc…

* On the injury front, DT Dorian Smith was back on the field after missing several days with a suspected lower-body injury and WR Jade Etienne returned after missing two days with an illness. However, DL Alex Hall and Brandon Collier joined the walking wounded with undisclosed injuries. RB Carl Volny (knee) and S Brady Browne (hamstring) got a lot of running in and seem to be getting closer to being participants in training camp.

* LaPolice said he was getting close to finalizing the list of players he’s planning to bring to Montreal for Thursday’s pre-season game with the Alouettes. He didn’t come out and say it but it’s looking unlikely that Buck Pierce will be taking the trip. LaPolice thought the Blue Bombers would travel with about 54 or 56 players and it will be the last chance for several guys to impress the coaching staff, since the first round of cuts will be made after that game.

“We’re going to evaluate players, especially being a road game you take younger guys and leave more veterans at home,” said LaPolice. “We’re working through the roster today.”

Not a whole lot else on the news front, other than the Blue Bombers officially signing offensive lineman Adam Rogers, who has some CFL experience with the Edmonton Eskimos and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Rogers’ natural position is guard and it’s not entirely clear where he fits in at this point.

What we were able to learn about Rogers is that he’s got a sense of humour and was working up in the oil rigs in Alberta before making his way to the Blue Bombers. We’ll have a sidebar on him up later on and in the Winnipeg Sun on Monday.

My other story is on Blue Bombers DB Brandon Stewart, who is coming back from an ankle injury he suffered in the East Final victory over the Ticats. Stewart is back for his 4th year with the Blue and Gold and is a 6-year CFL veteran who is expected to play a big role in the secondary this season.

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Kirk Penton

Kirk Penton was born in Manitoba, grew up in Saskatchewan and has been back in Manitoba since 1997. He has worked at the Winnipeg Sun since 2001, is married with two sons and can't get enough sports into his diet.